Wen Tian did not expect to meet Wen Zeming at this time, nor did he expect that he would be so bold to come to Sifang Town. In his previous life, Wen Tian always thought that Wen Zeming’s and his mother were hidden away in the temple. Wen Boli only brought them in after his promotion. Wen Tian didn’t expect that he had been overthinking it.
He was very lively. Wen Tian hadn’t met him in before in his previous life. It was probably because he didn’t attend the flower viewing party at that time, and he didn’t go out with Li Qingnian that often, so he missed the opportunity.
Wen Tian looked at Wen Zeming coldly. Wen Zeming was only two months older than him, but with his tall stature and the same gentle face as Wen Boli, he looked several years older and more mature than Wen Tian.
Sensing that someone was looking at him, Wen Zeming raised his head slightly and met Wen Tian’s eyes. He was stunned for a moment, then cupped his hands and smiled at Wen Tian.
Wen Tian narrowed his eyes, swept a disgusted glance at him, and turned away without even making any superficial effort.
The smile on Wen Zeming’s face froze, and to hide his expression, he lowered his head to drink tea. He came here along with one of the other young masters. He went to the academy in Lehe Town, and the young man who brought him here had been classmates with him when he was a child. They happened to meet each other this time, so he brought him over to socialize and make more friends.
He was naturally pleased. His father taught him from childhood that he should learn to use the connections around him to turn his own strength. He had always followed his father as a role model. Being slick, smooth in handling things and good at social maneuvering1 were all things he was trying to learn.
And Wen Tian was in Sifang Town. He had always wanted to see what his younger brother who grew up in fine clothes and fine food was like.
He and his mother had spent so many years in the temple with no name and no status. He had even been looked down upon for seeking education. It was impossible not to be jealous of his father’s other son, but he had been hiding it. He studied hard for the sake of that one day when his mother could enter the Wen family’s gate in a dignified manner, and he could be the eldest son of the Wen family, instead of being a bastard without a father.
He looked around and saw that there were more than a dozen people attending the banquet. He couldn’t tell which one was Wen Tian, so he could only wait patiently.
Wen Tian had been in a bad mood since seeing Wen Zeming. Li Qingnian noticed his expression and turned sideways to talk to him: “Youling, what’s wrong with you?”
Wen Tian sat up straight, his eyes filled with ferocity. “I saw a loathsome person.”
“Who?” Li Qingnian looked around and became angry along with him. “I’ll help you kick that person out.” This banquet was proposed by him, so it wouldn’t be difficult to kick someone out.
“No need.” Wen Tian narrowed his eyes, pursed his lips into a thin line, and said in a low voice, “I will take care of him myself.”
Hearing him say this, Li Qingnian obediently nodded his head. Seeing Wen Tian’s small frame, he added: “If you get into a fight, just call me and I’ll beat him up for you!” If nothing else, he had never lost in a fight and he could even crush someone down.
Wen Tian was amused by him and laughed, and the expression on his face relaxed a little. This wasn’t his previous life. Wen Boli had not yet become an official. Wen Zeming was still a child his age. He had lived an extra life. What was there to be afraid of about him?
Having figured out the hurdle, Wen Tian lazily leaned on his elbows and ate fruit.
The short tables were arranged in a circle, and the open space in the middle was sprinkled with peach petals. Li Qingnian also invited dancers to add to the fun. The sultry singing and the dancers’ enchanting movements were decadence that Wen Tian had never experienced before.
He picked up a glass of wine and drank it slowly. Wen Tian had no intention of watching the dancing, and was instead thinking about how to deal with Wen Zeming.
In the previous life, after Wen Zeming’s mother and son were brought in, his mother had a cold war with Wen Boli for a while, after which they divorced. It was during the cold war, when Wen Boli let Wen Zeming and his son live in the mansion. Bai Ruihe always had a soft and frail appearance. Wen Zeming followed suit and always showed a gentle demeanor, making everyone smile. As a result, the mother-and-son caused a not-insignificant commotion. The aristocratic families they had connections with at that time said that Wen Tian’s mother was too small-minded and intolerant, being too overbearing that she could not tolerate such an agreeable and sensible concubine.
However, they all forgot that the mansion was originally named Fu, and Wen Boli married in as the son-in-law. Without the Fu family, he would have been just a poor scholar who couldn’t even afford to pay for his studies.
After tilting his head back and taking a sip of wine, Wen Tian slowly straightened up. Since he had gained notoriety in his previous life, he might as well become an unreasonable playboy today.
After the song and dance ended, the dancers in enchanting clothes came up carrying cakes and drinks. When they passed by Wen Tian, they even winked at him. Wen Tian returned a polite smile, and then continued to drink without looking away.
Li Qingnian stood up, held up his wine glass and explained the next game to play.
Since it was a flower appreciation banquet, it must have something to do with flowers. Although the people here were all dandy young playboys, they also had a heart for elegance.
Li Qingnian suggested that it would be better to make flower games.
The dancers played the drums, and the gentlemen passed the flowers around. Whoever’s hand the flower fell into had to write a poem with the word “flower” in it. Considering that the few who came probably didn’t have much ink in their stomachs, they relaxed the conditions. They could also use poems from the ancients. Those who failed would have to drink wine as a penalty.
Everyone clapped in agreement, and the servants brought a big drum over. The most beautiful dancer came in barefoot and carrying two drumsticks. Li Qingnian held a broken peach blossom branch in his hand. As soon as the drums sounded out, the flower branch was passed to Wen Tian.
Wen Tian passed it to Zhou Chuanqing again, and the drums kept beating. The dancers danced and beat the drums. The drums sounded rapidly and then stopped suddenly, and the peach blossom branch fell into the hands of Young Master Zhang.
Young Master Zhang thought for a while and composed a poem on the spot. It was not elegant, but it had the word “flower” in it, and so it still complied with the rules. The dancer’s eyes flashed, she raised her wrist, and the drum beat sounded again.
After this went on for two rounds, the flowers fell into Wen Tian’s hands. Wen Tian was not good at poetry, so he directly quoted the poems of the ancients, “A thousand leaves of peach blossoms are better than a hundred flowers, and the glory of spring and softness linger in the years.”
Realizing that the young man he had noticed just now was actually Wen Tian, Wen Zeming’s eyes showed a hint of disdain. He might have a good appearance, but he was a loser who couldn’t even write poetry.
Sensing the attention from below, Wen Tian turned his gaze and found out that it was from Wen Zeming. He frowned, displeased, and then immediately looked away as if he had seen something dirty; his attitude was one of undisguised disgust.
“Have you ever offended Young Master Wen?” The friend next to him also noticed it and asked Wen Zeming in a low voice.
Wen Zeming shook his head in distress, took a sip of wine, and said with a bitter smile: “This is the first time I meet Young Master Wen. Perhaps he disliked the fact that a commoner like me had defiled his eyes?”
After hearing these words, his friend felt sorry for him. He and Wen Zeming were classmates. He knew that Wen Zeming’s family was poor but he was full of talent. Even his teacher had praised him, so he wanted to give him a hand and help him make more friends, or give him more options.
So when the flower branches reached Wen Zeming’s hands and Wen Zeming himself composed a poem to win everyone’s applause, he took the initiative to introduce Wen Zeming in an attempt to dissolve Wen Tian’s prejudice.
“This is my classmate Wen Zeming. He is the most promising scholar in the school this year!”
“Bosheng is too complimentary,” Wen Zeming sat up holding his wine glass and toasted everyone with a glass of wine. “Wen merely studies harder.”
The people here were all young men, and not many had real talent or learning, so everyone was quite friendly towards this great talent who suddenly appeared. After Wen Zeming made a toast, his friend took him to meet Wen Tian.
Wen Tian swirled the wine glass in his hands with a look of indifference.
“Speaking of which, Young Master Wen and Zeming are both surnamed Wen, so maybe they are the same family.” Zheng Bosheng joked with a smile, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
The face of Wen Tian, who was still lazying around at first, darkened as he glanced at Wen Zeming contemptuously, and said coldly, “There is no such person in the Wen family.”
Zheng Bosheng was a little embarrassed. Wen Zeming’s fingers tightened and he forced a smile: “I wonder where this Wen offended Young Master Wen, or did Young Master Wen think that this Wen’s family is so poor that it is unacceptable?”
He has used this trick many times. Since he couldn’t hide his poor family now, it was better to take an active stance rather than a passive one. Sometimes a proud man from a poor family could be a good knocking stone. At least every time he took the initiative to laugh at his humble family, those young masters who wanted face would not be able to say anything about his background.
He thought Wen Tian would be like those young men.
Unexpectedly, Wen Tian raised his chin and said nonchalantly, “I don’t look down on people from poor families. I only look down on you.”
Wen Zeming’s face quickly turned red. “You!”
Wen Tian didn’t let him answer and continued, “Aren’t you tired of pretending to be so hypocritical? You obviously want to climb up the ranks and gain power and wealth, but you still pretend to be aloof and lofty, for which audience? Want to have a relationship with the Wen family? If you had just begged me directly, I would still think highly of you.”
Zheng Bosheng opened his mouth to say something, but was pulled over by Li Qingnian. Although Li Qingnian appeared foolish, he was not really stupid. He warned Zheng Bosheng in a low voice, “You don’t want to be used as a shield.”
This Wen Zeming had the look of a shrewd master at first glance. As he followed his father, he had seen many such businessmen who were gentle and polite on the surface but had evil intentions behind their backs. However, Wen Zeming didn’t pretend to be so. Wen Tian had only given him a few pricks, but already Wen Zeming couldn’t hold back.
Seeing Wen Zeming’s face turning purple, Wen Tian felt a little better. He slowly picked up the wine glass and took a sip. Seeing that Wen Zeming still was not leaving, he asked, puzzled, “You’re still not going? Do you really want to beg me?”
He leaned back lazily, threw the wine glass to the ground, pointed at the dusty wine glass, and displayed his philandering attitude. “If you pick up the wine glass for me, I’ll reluctantly accept you as a book boy2, how’s that?”
===Author’s Notes===
Tiantian: It’s great to be a bully.jpg
Today is the foppish young master, but it’s a pity that the bandit leader didn’t see it~
I forgot about it yesterday, but I will continue to send red envelopes to everyone today, tweet, tweet, tweet. Rolling needs a lot of comments qwq
===Translator’s Notes===
Oooh, Wen Tian, what are you playing at? oO
- 长袖善舞, literally “long sleeves are an advantage in a dance”; according to here, “The original meaning is that if you have someone to rely on, things will be easier to succeed. Later, it was described as a person who has wealth and power and is good at maneuvering, and is good at sneaking around.” ↩︎
- “书童” A minor servant who serves his master while studying. Takes care of the scholar’s daily life. ↩︎
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